diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ChoreService.java b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ChoreService.java
index 1623c10c10f..49ac9070fd6 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ChoreService.java
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ChoreService.java
@@ -151,6 +151,10 @@ public class ChoreService implements ChoreServicer {
     }
 
     try {
+      if (chore.getPeriod() <= 0) {
+        LOG.info("The period is " + chore.getPeriod() + " seconds, " + chore.getName() + " is disabled");
+        return false;
+      }
       chore.setChoreServicer(this);
       ScheduledFuture<?> future =
           scheduler.scheduleAtFixedRate(chore, chore.getInitialDelay(), chore.getPeriod(),